The group continued walking forward. After a series of left and right turns, they unexpectedly found themselves in front of a magnificent ancient building.
The flickering light spots shone on the antique carved beams and painted rafters beside the wall. The dim orange light flowed gently like water. Faintly, exquisitely carved ghost faces appeared and disappeared.
Taking a closer look, one would find that those ghost faces corresponded exactly to the seven emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hatred, and desire.
People came and went in front of the ancient building, and the noise inside was deafening.
Yu Nian looked up and saw several large characters written in a wild and flamboyant style on the plaque above the building: [Elysium House].
The font was crazy, ugly, and grotesque, with no trace of good calligraphy. It seemed as if someone had written it casually after getting drunk.
Yu Nian was in a daze for a moment. When she turned her head, she found that only Feng Chengyuan and Qi Rongsheng were left beside her. The others had somehow gotten separated and disappeared without a trace.
Yu Nian was briefly worried, but then she thought that they were wearing the talisman - embroidered clothes she had given them, so they would probably be fine.
Just as Yu Nian was about to lead the group away, a shrill scream came from inside the gambling house. She fixed her eyes and saw four uniformly - dressed strong men dragging a "person" out.
The man had been cut in half at the waist, and his intestines were scattered all over the place, leaving a long trail of blood. Yet he was still howling with blood - red eyes: "Let me down! I want to play one more round!"
One of the strong men sneered: "Poor wretch, talk to me after your lower half grows back!"
Then he threw the man forcefully beside the trash can.
Blood splashed everywhere, and the man let out a shrill scream of pain.
But even in the face of such a terrifying scene, no one inside the gambling house even turned to look. They seemed to be used to it and were concentrating on their own business.
At this time, a crisp voice sounded beside Yu Nian: "Sir/Madam, would you like to come in and have some fun?"
Yu Nian turned her head and saw a young boy in the Elysium House uniform standing in front of her. The boy wore a golden mask and had a pair of smiling, crescent - shaped eyes.
Yu Nian smiled slightly: "Can I come in and play without money?"
The boy's eyes curved even more: "Of course you can. After all, most people in the Elysium House don't come here just for gambling money. You can bet on your five senses, your lifespan, your seven emotions and six desires... In short, you can bet on everything you have."
Yu Nian looked at the gambling house for a moment, as if lost in thought. Then she nodded and led Feng Chengyuan and Qi Rongsheng in, following the boy.
As soon as they entered, they found that the gambling house was indeed bustling, filled with noise and people with flushed faces.
Those who won were beaming with pride, while those who lost were full of unwillingness. They took out another stack of silver notes from their bosoms and roared: "One more round!"
Yu Nian walked through the crowd, but her gaze stopped on a person's face.
Wasn't the person with blood - red eyes, shouting and making a ruckus at the gambling table, none other than Liu Hele?
Wasn't he trapped here? How could he be at the gambling table in the Elysium House?
Yu Nian stopped and observed the situation there.
Liu Hele was standing in front of the gambling table, tightly holding the Pai Gow tiles in his hand, with one foot still on the chair.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his lips were pale. He must have not seen sunlight for a long time.
Although Liu Hele was a living soul at the moment, he looked more like a ghost than most of the ghosts present.
Sitting upright across from Liu Hele was a man of noble bearing. Yu Nian observed his facial features and saw that his face was sinister, with a pair of unfathomable eyes that seemed to be filled with a dim light. His eyebrows were thick and short, with the tips drooping, forming an "eight" shape. At first glance, they looked like two hanging daggers.
Although he was smiling at the moment, no one knew when he might stab you.
The little ghosts and cultivators around him seemed to be very respectful to him and would address him as "Master Long".
The gambling table of Liu Hele and Master Long was surrounded tightly by the crowd, and everyone was constantly jeering and laughing.
"Liu Hele, you lost again!"
"You're so reckless to bet against Master Long. You deserve it!"
"Hahaha, you've become a pauper!"
...
Big drops of sweat rolled down Liu Hele's forehead. He slammed the table suddenly: "One more round!"
But Master Long across from him shook his head with a smile: "One more round? You've already lost all your future fortune to me. What else do you have?"
Liu Hele froze and slumped into the chair. Yes, he had lost again. This time he had nothing left.
He had originally entered this ghost market with his friends and accidentally met a merchant who sold goods according to her mood.
For several consecutive days, Liu Hele had bought invaluable treasures from that merchant at extremely low prices.
Thinking he had tasted the sweetness, he pestered his friends to take him to the ghost market every day.
On the fifth day, the merchant took out a pair of huge pure - gold earrings.
The shiny gold of the earrings made Liu Hele unable to move his eyes away at first sight.
Liu Hele asked the merchant the price. The woman just smiled without saying a word. She held up five fingers and took out a document, telling Liu Hele that if he went back on his word, his soul would be detained in the ghost market.
Liu Hele was a bit hesitant at first, but then he thought that according to the previous pattern, the price should be very cheap. So he didn't even think twice and signed his name on the document.
As usual, he took out 500 yuan in cash, but this time he miscalculated.
The merchant shook the document with a smile and spoke for the first time: "You're wrong. I want five catties of gold."
This sky - high price almost crushed Liu Hele. He ran home in the hope of a miracle, but soon his soul was arrested again. The merchant told Liu Hele that his soul had to work in the Elysium House until it dissipated.
Liu Hele was a bit scared when he first arrived at the Elysium House, but as time passed, he got used to it. He thought that Cai Jia would definitely find someone to rescue him.
During the waiting time, he wanted to earn back all the money he had lost.
But unexpectedly, his luck was so bad that he lost every bet.
Gradually, he lost his house, car, family property, and fortune. But the more he lost, the more he wanted to win back everything he had lost.
At first, when he lost, Liu Hele would pay the money on the spot without blinking an eye. Later, he found that he could gamble on credit, so he started to play without restraint.
After gambling on credit, Liu Hele didn't know how much he had lost, and even the banker and the creditor didn't remind him.
The gambling games went on one after another, and he gambled day and night.
Finally, he had nothing left.
But he was still not willing to give up. Looking at the towering stack of silver notes in front of Master Long, Liu Hele swallowed his saliva hard.
Just one round. If he could win just one round, he would turn things around.
Liu Hele's eyes rolled stiffly. Then he slapped the table and shouted with his eyes closed: "I still have a wife! I bet my wife's ten - year lifespan!"